Further updates today. I am deep into experimentation with a new tweeter from Scanspeak. I am also reviewing the boxes for crossovers. This is mostly cosmetic and also I feel a bit too audiophile with cross over boxes sat next to the speakers, plus I prefer the speakers just a tadge closer together which I cannot do with the boxes in the way.
I also swapped out the final part that was old stock. I took some windings off a foil inductor in the mid to get to the right measurement, but something was niggling. In the end I got them remade by mundorf.
Anyone that says parts quality dont make a difference? Well let me tell you this cynic for one is converted. They weigh 2kg each, these box weights are getting out of control!
The front of the units is where the 3 cross over components slide in, I have 10mm aluminium being cut for that as well. Once I am happy every thing fits I will veneer the outside in Oak.
I donât have naim original crossovers. I have no doubt mine sound better
And yes they are great against back wall. Combined with the right bass drivers, its controlled and fast, when called for it can make you involuntarily defecate.
âŚ..and they said actve was too complicated! Iâm beginning to think a SNAXO and a couple of power amps would have been the easy option here. (No matter, youâre obviously having fun with this.)
As there are three sets of cable coming from the boxes I elected not to use naca5 and consequently whi8lst I am using naim plugs the cable is more flexible so they fit fine. If you look up a few posts you can see a picture of the current crossover boxes in black. They are circa 350mm tall 350mm deep and 260mm wide. They are quite large, and about 20kg each as well.
The new boxes are a bit smaller so they will go in the brown cabinet so are 20cm tall over all. This necessitated putting the bass and treble boards in at an angle as can just be seen above (Either that or a total redesign of boards which I was not in the mood for. This was all modelled in CAD so I could 3D prints angle supports for the boards. It worked first time, I love CAD!
Thanks for your reply. Compared to the sizes given by @igel, which I assume are for the Naim Audio official crossovers, yours are babies. Your CAD and 3D printing skills are impressive too.
I have not seen a dbl cross over, but have nbls, the components I have used are in the most part substantially bigger. The mid range inductor for instance 80mm tall.
Have you connected them up and tried them in the laid out flat arrangement? It would be interesting to compare with them stacked in their new boxes. But then what if� Maybe not!
You must have learnt so much from your DBL restoration project. Itâs really impressive what youâve done
Iâm sure youâre right. It makes logical sense to isolate the crossovers from the drivers, and that must accord with Naimâs philosophy regarding mechanical isolation.
I am somewhat stymied by never having heard DBLs or DBL crossovers. I only have my own experience to work from.
I do have the advantage that these crossovers are tweaked to my individual space. I donât think they are dramatically different to what the chap designed for himself.
I have no idea what dbl crossovers would cost but I bet you wouldnât get change from what I spent on these, however mine are using better quality parts.
Does that make a difference? Hard to say for certain, I have not built a cheap variant! The mid inductor made a hell of a change though, and in principle its the same spec.
One thing I would add to this is Iâm very surprised how clean they sound. Tube fanatics- of which I would consider myself to be one -obsess about how clean a tube circuit can sound compared to solid state.
The DBLs are the most cleanest set of speakers Iâve ever heard. As of yet, I havenât sampled the power, grunt or solidity to the sound thatâs often been described about DBLs but I AM powering them with only one NAP 160 BD and they are not setup optimally so I do have that to look forward to.
